Having a completed project is all well and good but if you weren’t inspired by the process there is a good chance you won’t continue. In today’s episode we talk through the 3 main points of my family’s creative philosophy based on the two interviews I did with my mom and dad.

The Last two interviews were with my parents. It was the first time I’ve sat down and really talked with them about their creative endeavours. And it was awesome. After listening back to both conversations I can see where I got a lot of my philosophy from. I chose the main points and some quotes from the interviews.

Three main points in my family’s creative process are:

It’s the journey. It’s not so much the final product because there will always be another project to take on, picture to take, song to sing or story to tell. This goes back to the Body Of Work episode (TheSparkAndTheArt.com/3) where I talk about how I’m just doing my projects to get them done without any real expectation that they will please anyone but myself and perhaps a few other folks. It’s not a good business strategy but it’s my sanity strategy.

In my dad’s interview (TheSparkAndTheArt.com/8) he said “It’s the learning that makes it exciting.” As much as he enjoys the making prints of his photos when they are all done, it’s the learning process the “How can I do …” that keeps him going.

In my mom’s interview (TheSparkAndTheArt.com/10) she talked about how every year she would ask her self if this was the year she could start a band and if the answer was no she would figure out, and be honest with herself about, what she needed to work on to get to that goal.

Other people enhance the journey. My dad looked for a photography mentor to help him improve his skills. Both my mom and dad look for opportunities to play with or for other people. While my songwriting has been mostly a personal activity I knew that in order to record my Born To The World CD to a quality I would be proud of, I would have to collaborate with other musicians. In order to have my Zany Zoo kids’ book publishable I’d have to collaborate with an illustrator who could draw (Since I can’t. Like almost at all.)

In Carolyn’s interview she talked about how important creative groups were “[One of] The things that’s important to me as a creative person is to be connected with other creative people.” She also talked about how if she couldn’t find a group she just asked people if they would like to join her in a group. People said yes and she had her community.

It’s never too late to start. My dad started photography and music in his late fifties. My mom though she’s been writing for 40 years only started focusing on making a living with music now that she’s in her 60s and retired. I started a podcast at 42 because they weren’t around more than a few years ago. One of my mom’s favourite things to do is work in her garden. One of her favourite flowers is the purple aster. It’s one of the last flowers to bloom in the garden. It’s lovely and worth the wait. That’s where my mom’s credo “It’s never to late to bloom.” comes from. You may feel like summer is almost over and all the other flowers are blooming around you so there’s no use in trying but remember. Maybe your talents are enhanced by the fact that you are starting a little later that the rest. It’s never too late to bloom.

Here is where you get to do some thinking.

- What is it that intrigues you? What would you get excited to learn more about each time you tried it?

- How could other people help in your artistic journey? Would a collaborator help? Do you just need a mentor to help figure out some details. Do you need a whole group of like minded people? If a group doesn’t exist how could you get one started?

What have you been putting off until ‘someday’ that you could just start now? If you can’t start what do you need to do to get to the point where you could start. Everything you do should be leading to that one goal of starting.

Thanks for listening I hope you got something out of today’s episode. If you did or you just have questions about what we talked about feel free to tweet me at @SH_Tucker.

Is there someone you know who may be struggling with starting because they think it’s a little to late to start? Please forward this episode, it would help out the podcast as well as your friend. The shareable address of this episode is TheSparkAndTheArt.com/11

Thanks for listening and remember, you won’t get the art without the work and you won’t do the work without the spark.